Farmers' Dream

Dear Farmers of Kikhar, Zhemgang

                                                                                Source: kuenselonline.com

... "I have decided not to continue with mushroom cultivation." Grieved Thinley from Kikhar, Zhemgang on the disappointment of mushroom farming. 

I have passed the following blind comment on the Kuensel post dated October 2. 

"We are too fast to conclude. We must try the maximum, give our best, explore means and need to be innovative. This is good news but discouraging for others in such pursuit. Nothing comes easy. There are no free meals in life."

I am quite adamant that I may have sounded rude and a bit selfish. While I know what it is to lose such a stake, the means of livelihood!

While I can feel the disappointment of our farmers, their time, energy, and resources going down the drain. However, nothing comes for free in life. As much as these aspiring mushroom farmers of a remote pocket of the country, I am concerned and bothered by this news of a failed trial of mushroom farming. This is not the end of everything. We must learn from the failures. 

As a son of a farmer myself, the pain of losing the ultimate means of livelihood, is nothing more disappointing than this. However, it should be the lesson for the next move, on what went wrong and how to overcome those setbacks. One must have positivity, courage, virtue, workmanship, and never never-giving mentality, and not be a failure-bound person either. 

I am sure the next bountiful harvest is waiting for you all. Keep trying and show to the world that there is still a chance to stand. It shows your courage and will to do the minimum. One need is to be resilient, and innovative, explore beyond normal and be mindful of whatever is planned. 

Innovative means our farmers need to explore and harness endless solutions not only from within but also beyond the border. Great ideas and practical solutions are just a click away as no formal training or need to visit a service center like in the past. There is endless exposure: YouTube, Social Media, Google, etc...Just keep exploring more. 

I have unconditional hope and trust for our farmers who shed a lot of hardship in the sun, and rain. Despite your failure this time, you all deserve our sincere praise. 

Particularly for us, a landlocked country with limited, very limited resources and expertise, we are bound for failure. But every time we step down, we must learn to stand more firm and strong and need to learn the power of setbacks in life. 

I share my raw reverential thought, but the greater share of impact is for the budding entrepreneurs, or enthusiasts young minds striving to be in the pool of farming are at the losing end of the hope. Just forget about one-time failure, tomorrow will be brighter. Keep working more like you all do always. 

Remember you are your sunshine, hero. There is nothing wrong with failing. If you all work with hope, one day, soon enough, you will reap your hardship, the workmanship craft. If not for a bigger dream or kind cash income, it will surely be a great feast for your family and the community. 

Perhaps, every start goes through a tough, same head-scratching experience. Experience of both good and hard times makes one strong and grounded. You must learn all the goodness from these experiences take this failure as your strength and move on with even more courage and power to try more and fail more, and that will surely be your success. 

Full article can be viewed from the given link: https://kuenselonline.com/kikhar-farmers-worry-as-mushrooms-fail/

Tsirang, Got a Swimming Pool

Tsirang, popularly known for the "vegetable bowl of Bhutan" is now open to the swimming pool.

 

If not for all, the new pool at Damphu Town has brought a lot of local attention. It's good news especially for the water lover and parents. Hearing news of people drowning in water. Swimming has always been a pressing concern for me. In the developed countries swimming comes as a part of a school curriculum and that is how at a very young age every pupil learns to float on the water and later some become elite and pursue a career in swimming.  

 

It was during the 2016 Rio Olympics, I saw an American guy named Michael Phelps winning a gold medal for swimming. Back then I thought, do such sports exist for competition and is there place for us in this field of sport. It kept me wondering and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics had opened a door for us but when are we planning for an Olympics size pool for the country.

 

Although my village is located a few miles above the confluence of two small rivers, I never had the chance to have fun in water due to many odd reasons and myths. It would have been worth it if I had learnt to swim at my tender age when I had the zeal. However, I can relate today that it may be due to fewer people or elders who knew how to swim from my village. I saw very few people opt for river fun –swimming, other than occasional fishing. Once in a while, I saw my father taking a day off for fishing. 

  

We never realize swimming to be part of an education and more importantly a survival skill. It would have been unpleasant, if I ever told my parents that I want to become a swimming instructor, or coaching myself in swimming. It would be utterly harsh if I ever told them that I am becoming a professional swimmer, or taking part in swimming competition. 

 

Now the swimming pool is nearby, I want my kids to learn swimming as part of the survival skill, as an education, as a sport and exercise. If there is a swimming academy, I am ready to enroll them for a swimming class. I believe skills like this can remain forever. 

 

 

Charges:

 

There are two segments in the pool –one for the kids, and another for an adult. As of now the charges per kid is Nu. 200 and Nu. 250 for an adult. With this charge, one can even stay whole day. There is also an attached eatery. I wish it would turn into a place for a family outing!

Swimming pool view from Children Park, Tsirang

Location:

 

The pool is located in-between football ground (Artificial Turf) and a municipal office. Just next to the children's park. If you're new and taking a drive, you can take a right turn from the hospital junction (not towards Gelephu highway), the road leading to BOB office and the Dzong. Once you enter this road, a few meters away, take a right turn again before reaching the municipal office or Dzong parking. 

 

Parking space:

 

There is not much concern about the car parking as the area is spacious. There is enough space for fun zones for kids, malls and other hangout places for the future planning.

 

Way Forward

So next time you plan a trip to Tsirang, don't forget to pack your swimsuit and swim tube for your kids. You will have great fun on the street of Damphu Town.

 

I can't wait to introduce myself in the pool some fine day. However, given the space and time, the size of the pool is quite small, for the future is not far from being truth. 

Kid Side, swimming Pool

Adult side, swimming pool

Who Is Responsible For Our Stray Dogs?

Who thought our stray dogs would go hungry during nationwide lockdown? 

 

This very idea, the feeding stray dogs during the nationwide lockdown were born out of His Majesty's warmth leadership. 

 

We simply worried about our small family members and ourselves. However, our beloved Monarch has not only worried for his people but also wisely thought for thousands of stray dogs across the country.  The little thing of such kindness and farsightedness makes our king not only the country leader but also a world leader. 

 

Should we revamp plans and policies on stray dogs, around forty thousand dogs would easily be rescued and get the care they deserve. We can easily manage this number, since we have great leaders leading us for centuries. We have a veterinary hospital well equipped with trained professionals and other resources. We can't afford to prolong this issue time and again. For the betterment of the country, we must put forward every possible resources and expertise to tackle this issue at the earliest.

 

The dogs are great social animals, always loyal to human being. Dogs have been domesticated to a point where they need us to survive and we need them as well. For I know dogs are not like other domesticated animals, they are trustworthy and protect properties. However, in our context only the lucky few get to experience a dignified life of dog-ness. Most have their fate thrown into the street without owner or care or shelter.

 

Stray dogs are everywhere – dzongs, schools, towns, hotels and streets. There were many dog bite cases both in urban and rural places in the past. There were even some reports of our foreign guest being attacked by a pack of stray dogs. Some foreigners have openly accused "GNH" country for poor management of stray dog. There were some cases of students being attacked by the pack of stray dogs on their way to school and few cases of cattle being brutally attacked by our strays. 

 

With the stray dogs population rising, our towns and communities are becoming less safe for our kids and old people. 

 

With proper guidelines, ownership of the dog should be encouraged among our people. Despite different programs in place, we have somehow failed in our mass mission in controlling stray dogs. Now it is time for a more reliable plan of action to reach out to all the communities and hammer the dumbest head. For this move, the government has to lead the way. Our veterinary hospital and trained professionals have to bear the torch and take a full charge with the highest integrity and determination. Our vet professionals are the only people in our community who could possibly understand and put in place the best and more reliable solution to tackle this problem, all they need is our full support. 

 

One game changer can be an "adoption of stray dog" program. This could be the last solution we have in hand. We must encourage our people to adopt one stray dog with some incentives or policies in place. We can do this program phase wise and at our convenience. I am sure our people can do this positively. Adopting one dog won't make a difference but it makes a huge difference for our nation in controlling the growing number of strays. We must come together and commit ourselves as a nation to adopt one stray dog. There won't be a bigger gift to His Majesty and the country than adopting one dog and committing to care for them. #OneStrayDogForOneFamily.

 

Dogs guard our home and community. In the west, dogs are trained to be more smart, intelligent and reliable than human being. Some dogs are trained to sniff suspects or hunt down drug peddlers when human expertise fails to track down. 

 

The movie titled "The art of racing in the rain" captures life’s best moments when Denny Swift, the lead actor is with his best friend, which is a dog that wants to be reincarnated into a human. The other movie "Hachiko" is based on a true story of dog-and-human friendship. Both stories connect so beautifully to the extent of ignoring inherent dog-ness and animal world. If we train and care for our stray dogs, they can become one like them in the story. 

 

Thank You, Your Majesty for such a noble initiative. For inspiring a program to feed our stray dogs when nations have gone mad with the lockdown, we still have our beloved Monarch who never put us down.   

Sometime, It Count –For a Price

Lately, I was engaged in unloading and re-stacking of FCBL stocks. In fact, I have never seen such a huge pile of rice and oil in my life. It was a lifetime experience. Thanks to the naughty covid19 virus. 

As I was busy with my work, I came across this brand of rice named after a sweet Dzongkha Name. It drew all my attention. It immediately threw so many questions within myself. Is it a Bhutanese product? Which Dzongkha did it? Which farm? Is it from Punakha or Tsirang or Sarpang? With so many doubts in my mind, I immediately checked the details of the rice only to find that the rice came from a very far away place, from the people of North Eastern Regions of Punjab in India. 

Then came this reply within me, the Indians are brilliant people not only in the field of science and medicine but also in re-designing and inventions. The Indians are not like the Hill people, who just eat and sleep. 

We need such polite business manners like Indian business firms do with anybody. How beautifully Bhutanese are being trapped and attracted by their brand name "Cheychum Chogjur, Cheychum Gongma" rice. According to FCBL store man, there are four different brands of rice named with very expressive and superior Dzongkha words in the market for sale at a reasonable price. Nonetheless, it says "premium Basmati" to add another value to its branding name. WOW!!!

Should we become smart and think like Indian Business mindset, we would have become better long ago. Even before, Bill Gates with his Microsoft business firm. 

Anyway, I respect the brain behind this branding name and style. Anyone can be easily hooked with this rice as it also comes at a cheaper price. I tried and it tasted good –salute for such a brilliant and a genius idea.

Thanks to all the soul involved in making this possible for the hungry mouths of the Hills, from their fertile fields into our mouths with ematadshi, our brand name still tastes good and yummy. 

Declaimer: The views expressed here are the author's own and did not intend to harm any one and any cooperation and firm.